Grinding your own whole spices can give your food so much more aroma than any ready ground spice you can buy. Most ready ground spices that you buy in the shops have been ground for weeks or even months, from the minute they are ground they start to lose their aroma, therefore freshly ground spices are far more aromatic.
Buy whole spices, most spices benefit from being dry toasted, this involves putting them in a dry frying pan over a medium heat, if making a spice blend it is usually best to toast them individually. Lightly toast them until they small fragrant and toasted, be careful not to burn them. Once toasted allow to cool and grind in a spice grinder. If making a spice blend like Ras el Hanout or Garam Masala it is usually best to toast the spices individually as some spices burn quicker than others. There is one spice that should never be toasted and that is nutmeg.
Spice grinders can be quite expensive, however a good coffee grinder does the job perfectly. A few years ago I went on a Middle Eastern Cookery Course at the famous Ballymaloe Cookery School, obviously being a Middle Eastern Cookery Course a lot of spices were used. During one of the classes given by Rory O'Connell he recommended always grinding your own spices freshly, he used a Bodum bistro coffee grinder and said he found it extremely efficient. The following week, when I got back home I went onto Amazon and ordered one, it is one of the best pieces of equipment I have in my kitchen, I have had it for nearly 8 years now and I use it constantly. I would highly recommend anyone who uses spices in their cooking to invest in one. If you would like to buy one, please. click here. Thank you.
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